essential

es·sen·tial

1. Constituting or being part of the nature or essence of something; inherent: "In that era of general good will ... few Americans doubted the essential goodness of their society"(David Halberstam).

2. Fundamentally important or necessary: essential ingredients. See Synonyms at indispensable.

3. Medicine Of, relating to, or being a condition or a disease whose cause is unknown: essential hypertension.

4. Biochemistry Being a substance that is required for normal functioning but cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be included in the diet: essential amino acids.

n.

1. Something fundamental.

2. Something necessary or indispensable.

es·sen′ti·al′i·ty(-shē-ăl′ĭ-tē), es·sen′tial·ness n.

es·sen′tial·ly adv.

essential

(ɪˈsɛnʃəl)

adj

1. vitally important; absolutely necessary

2. basic; fundamental: the essential feature.

3. completely realized; absolute; perfect: essential beauty.

4. (Biochemistry) biochem (of an amino acid or a fatty acid) necessary for the normal growth of an organism but not synthesized by the organism and therefore required in the diet

5. (Botany) derived from or relating to an extract of a plant, drug, etc: an essential oil.

6. (Logic) logic (of a property) guaranteed by the identity of the subject; necessary. Thus, if having the atomic number 79 is an essential property of gold, nothing can be gold unless it has that atomic number

7. (Music, other) music denoting or relating to a note that belongs to the fundamental harmony of a chord or piece

syn: essential, inherent, intrinsic refer to that which is in the natural composition of a thing. essential suggests that which is in the very essence or constitution of a thing: Quiet is essential in a public library.inherent means inborn or fixed from the beginning as a permanent quality or constituent of a thing: properties inherent in iron.intrinsic implies belonging to the nature of a thing itself and comprised within it, without regard to external considerations or accidentally added properties: the intrinsic value of diamonds. See also necessary.

essential - anything indispensable; "food and shelter are necessities of life"; "the essentials of the good life"; "allow farmers to buy their requirements under favorable conditions"; "a place where the requisites of water fuel and fodder can be obtained"

Each house consisted of two compartments, and each family at Lebrun's possessed a compartment for itself, fitted out with all the essential paraphernalia of the bath and whatever other conveniences the owners might desire.

Then, holding the brand, he crossed a deep, narrow chasm in the rocks which ran at right angles with the passage they were in, but which, unlike that, was open to the heavens, and entered another cave, answering to the description of the first, in every essential particular.

I looked upon it as an evidence, in some measure, of a system naturally well balanced, and lacking no essential part of a thorough organization, that, with such associates to remember, I could mingle at once with men of altogether different qualities, and never murmur at the change.

Much might be ruminated here, concerning the essential dignity of this regal process, because in common life we esteem but meanly and contemptibly a fellow who anoints his hair, and palpably smells of that anointing.

She was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,-- cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race; but Chloe was a trained and methodical one, who moved in an orderly domestic harness, while Dinah was a self-taught genius, and, like geniuses in general, was positive, opinionated and erratic, to the last degree.

X always spoke English to Germans, but his plan was to turn the sentence wrong end first and upside down, according to German construction, and sprinkle in a German word without any essential meaning to it, here and there, by way of flavor.

Bates's, and gone through his share of this essential attention most handsomely; but she having then induced Miss Fairfax to join her in an airing, was now returned with much more to say, and much more to say with satisfaction, than a quarter of an hour spent in Mrs.

I try to concentrate my attention on those netting-needles, on the meshes of the purse I am forming--I wish to think only of the work I have in my hands, to see only the silver beads and silk threads that lie in my lap; whereas, I distinctly behold his figure, and I inevitably recall the moment when I last saw it; just after I had rendered him, what he deemed, an essential service, and he, holding my hand, and looking down on my face, surveyed me with eyes that revealed a heart full and eager to overflow; in whose emotions I had a part.

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